Second Weddings & White Gowns: Should You or Shouldn't You?

Updated on October 6, 2015

Queen Elizabeth I, England. The Virgin Queen.

The White Wedding Gown and Tradition...

Queen Elizabeth I of England was known as the Virgin Queen, and white was her favorite color; she wore it often. For that reason, the color came to represent purity and virginity and the traditional meaning of the color passed down to us throughout the ages. However, women at the time wore their best finery, of whatever color, when they married.

It was Queen Elizabeth's distant cousin, Queen Victoria, who broke tradition at her wedding hundreds of years later. Rather than wearing a silver gown, the color of royalty, she wore white. And that's the wedding that made the white wedding gown the norm.

Over the years, the meaning of the white wedding gown changed. It now represents joy and celebration. But one can't deny that the underlying meaning remains. For that reason, let's leave the white wedding gown in the realm of the first-time bride. There are some traditions that should remain exclusinvely hers!

Wedding gown by Stephen Yearick.

Second-Time Brides: Show Your Independence!

Having owned a bridal salon for many years, I can tell you that I was amazed by my clients, many of whom were marrying for the second time, who wanted to emulate their fist-time counterparts...

Why? They were older, wiser, their own woman! I couldn't believe they wouldn't want to do things differently, to show their independence, to make their own statement! And that's what I tried to impress upon them.

Wedding gowns today are highly sophisticated and come in many gorgeous colors. There's no reason to wear white, or look like a first-time bride. And who would want to?